Egalitarian Dynamics: Liminality, and Victor Turner’s Contribution to the Understanding of Socio-historical Process(2 Egalitarianism)

Liminality: the state of being ‘betwixt and between’ is one of anthropology’s most influential concepts. This volume reconsiders Victor Turner’s innovative extension of Arnold Van Gennep’s concept of liminality from within the Manchester tradition of Social Anthropology established by Max Gluckman. Turner’s work was grounded in ethnography and engaged with philosophical perspectives in varied socio-historical contexts, extending well-beyond the confines of the anthropology that initially inspired much of his work. Liminality has therefore become a concept with broad interdisciplinary reach. Engaging with topical issues across the globe – from neuroscience to open access publishing and refugee experiences in Europe – this volume launches Turner’s fundamental work into the future.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Introduction: Liminality: Structure/Anti-Structure and Egalitarian Dynamics Bruce Kapferer Part I: Liminality and Ethnography Chapter 1. The Pivoting of the Sacred: Arnold Van Gennep's Patio-Temporality of the Liminal Bjorn Thomassen Chapter 2. The Parable of the Foot Bridge: Creativity and Change in the In-Between Paul Stoller Chapter 3. Searching for My Brother: Liminality and Blood Brotherhood in Rwanda Christopher C. Taylor Chapter 4. The Rigours of the Liminal: Effecting the Real in Theatrical Labour Daniel Scherer and Martin Holbraad Chapter 5. Sacrifice, Sovereignty and the Dynamics of Structure and Anti-Structure Rohan Bastin Part II: Multiple Meanings of Communitas Chapter 6. Communitas and Practice in the Baltimore Rhythm Festival Rory Turner Chapter 7. Insight Meditation: Liminality Without Excitement Ward Keeler Chapter 8. The Unbearable Weight of Music: The Intermezzo Steven M. Friedson Part III: Liminoid Spaces and the Politics of Liminality Chapter 9. Mahishi’s Rage: Communitas and Protest at Sabarimala, Kerala Dinesan Vadakkiniyil Chapter 10. Weaving Value in the Liminal Space of the Istanbul Bazaar Patricia Scalco Chapter 11. Vicissitudes of Liminality in Complex Performance Systems John MacAloon Chapter 12. France and its Purgatory Andre Iteanu Chapter 13. Liminality and Communitas: The Making of Refugees in Switzerland Marina Gold Chapter 14. Open Access and the Subjunctive Mood in Scholarly Publishing Kirsten Bell Chapter 15. How Book Haram's 'Liminal' Child Witches and Child Soldiers Challenge the Capitalist State Caroline Ifeka Chapter 16. Immanence and Process: Between 1984 and Brave New World, The Trump Transmutation Bruce Kapferer and Roland Kapferer Part IV: Extensions Chapter 17. Finding Likeness: Neural Plasticity and Ritual Experience Robert Turner Afterword: Liminality - Contemplating the Hypothetically Potent Conjunction of the Social and the Physical Don Handelman References Index

About the Author :
Bruce Kapferer is Honorary Professor University College London and Professor Emeritus, University of Bergen, where he is Director of the project Egalitarianism: Forms, Processes, Comparisons, which is supported by an ERC Advanced Grant. His recent publications include Democracy’s Paradox: Populism and its Contemporary Crisis, co-edited with Dimitrios Theodossopoulos (Berghahn Books, 2019).

Review :
“This is a very rich collection combining theoretical relevance with a wide spectrum of empirical material. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey including themes that range from blood brotherhood rituals in Rwanda to the symbolic power of Olympic games as complex performance systems, from the ambivalence of music intermezzos in Africa and America to the brave new world of the US in a post-capitol uprising world.” • Harald Wydra, University of Cambridge “This is an outstanding and magisterial treatment of the work of Victor Turner on liminality and ritual, structure and communitas (or anti-structure) and of his theory’s past and present significance and indeed of its future potential.” • Donald Nonini, University of North Carolina